963 FOR SALE OR?

WORLDS FASTEST COMPRESSED NATRUAL GAS POWERED CAR

As the page tile indicates, I am considering selling my 963 streamliner. I have not run it for a few years and thinking it is time to share it with another Bonneville aficionado. I am open to selling, interesting trades or possibly some form of partnership. I can be contacted via the info on the Contact Page.

The following gallery pages have numerous photos for the car, equipment, spares including truck and trailer. The pages are as follows:

Pics, 1 & 2. Various pictures of the car on the salt as it evolved during development.

Truck. 2003 Dodge Ram 3500. Setup for towing the trailer and support on the salt. It has a Cummins 5.9 turbo diesel and is a great tow vehicle.

Trailer. AGC enclosed trailer, set up for Bonneville operations including generator, etc.

Equipment and Spares. Handling dolly and lots for parts and spares. Complete operational equipment to run the car.

Wind Tunnel Model. a 1/5 scale model build by Riley and Scott, ran in the University of Michigan wind tunnel

Title, ID. Truck tile and VIN, trailer Vin.

Following is the history for the car.

LESSMAN RACING STREAMLINER HISTORY

HOW IT STARTED,

I have been interested in Bonneville and Land Speed Racing since my youth. I followed the activities on the salt via a variety of magazines commencing in the mid 1950's.

While attending college in Utah I visited Bonneville when Craig Breedlove was running his Spirit of America jet car. Art Arfons and his brother Walt were at Bonneville observing Craig's efforts. My interest increased and I knew someday I wanted to race on the salt.

In 1977 | returned to Bonneville during Speedweek, that event caused me to get serious about building a car. I built an E Fuel Streamliner that my crew and I ran for many years and set the class record in 1989. An 'incident" in 1990 resulted in a need to build a new car.

CURRENT CAR, AA BLOWN GAS STREAMLINER 963,

In looking at options for a new car, I wanted to race something different using an alternative fuel. I made contact with Colorado State University and after some discussion decided to pursue compressed natural gas as a fuel. In 1994 l commissioned Riley & Scott of Indianapolis to design and construct the car. Legendary racing car designer/visionary Bob Riley (https://www.facebook.com/

ArtofRace CarDesign2016) did the aero and chassis design. Bill Riley designed the drive train. Kasse Racing engines did the initial engine development. Ford SVO supplied the basic engine components, blocks and heads. The initial work focused on the aerodynamic design with a 1/5th scale wind tunnel model being built. The University of Michigan wind tunnel facility was used to evaluate the initial design. Initial construction was completed in the late 1990's and the car sat in storage for several years. It was moved to the Reno NV and additional development work on the engine was commenced. Lyn St James (wife at the time) Indycar driver was to be the driver initially.

The car first arrived at Bonneville in 2004. Initial testing and shake down runs indicated we had a lot of additional development work to do. Over the next several years we began to sort out the chassis setup and engine fueling needs. The engine work was particularly challenging in that there was not much proved technology to draw from. A number of experienced engine specialists/technicians were engaged to help. We went through several years of changing components and tuning before achieving at the current set up. The engine is 572 cubic inches producing an estimated 1600-1700 horsepower, which makes it one of the highest CNG fueled horsepower per cubic inch engines in existence.

The variations in salt conditions impacted our ability to make meaningful progress in some years. Typical Bonneville. In 2018 we achieved our highest speed of 380+ MPH, the car was still accelerating at the end of the timing area. Had I accelerated earlier (plan was for a warm up pass) on that run we most certainly would have exceeded 400 MPH. The Riley folks believe the car in it's current configuration is capable of 425 MPH with good salt conditions.

The car is in race ready condition and could return to Bonneville with a minimal of effort.

Following is a general list of he specs for the Lessman racing Streamliner.

LESSMAN RACING BONNEVILLE CAR PARAMETERS

The worlds fastest compressed natural gas powered car at 380+ MPH

CHASSIS/BODY:

  • Length. 29 ft, 6 inches

  • Height at cockpit. 36 inches

  • Width at front wheel area 30 inches

  • Width at rear wheels, 36 inches

  • Weight "wet" with driver, 3914 Ibs

  • CG, 46, rear 2114 Ibs, front 1800 Ibs

  • Ca, 0.18

  • Cross sectional area, 7.5 sq ft

  • Frame, 2 inch square box tube, 4130 steel

  • Body constructed of carbon fiber/Kevlar composite sandwich

  • Drive train, custom designed and fabricated.

  • Front/rear axle ratio 1:1

  • Transmission, Lenco planetary 5 speed, pneumatic shifting

  • Final drive ratios:

  • First, 3.27

  • Second, 2.09

  • Third, 1.56

  • Fourth, 1.25

  • Fifth, 1.0

  • All wheel drive

  • Wing installed behind cockpit designed to put approximately 2000 Ibs download at 400 MPH. Wind tunnel model run in the University of Michigan wind tunnel.

  • Front Penske Mono coil over shock, Rear dual Penske coil over shocks, all with load sensing strain gauges.

  • Clutch, multiple plate drag race style, pneumatic actuation, East West Engineering

  • Tires, Mickey Thompson LSR, 77.375 circumference @90 psi, 2 sets

  • HRE custom aluminum wheels, 2 sets

  • Braking, one carbon disc actuating rear wheels, only used at low speeds.

  • Three individual parachutes, pneumatic actuation

ENGINE:

  • "Big Block" 460 Ford V-8, Aluminum block and heads

  • Displacement, 572 cubic inches.

  • Bore, 4.5 inches

  • Stroke, 4.5 inches

  • Compression ratio, 12.9:1

  • Cam shaft

  • Erson Cams E260999, grind # R302/430B, roller

  • Rocker ratio, 1.8

  • Head Ford part number, M6049-E40